On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed that a significant portion of the savings that the agency expects from the recent cancellation of 12 IT projects would come from halting work on the Replacement Scheduling Application Development program, Federal Computer Week reports.
Drew Brookie, deputy press secretary at VA, released a list of the 12 IT projects that were marked for elimination on Feb. 24. The decision to end the program to redesign VA's online appointment scheduling system would generate $37 million in savings, or about two-thirds of the $54 million the agency hopes to save for 2010.
Officials allocated a total budget of $24 million to redesign the enrollment system, which allows veterans to electronically schedule appointments at VA centers. About $167 million already has been spent on the program.
Stephen Warren, principal deputy assistant secretary for IT at VA, said that although the program has been listed among the 12 projects for termination, it still could be reinstated. Warren added that if a decision is made to revitalize the program, it would have a different format, along with a different approach and name (Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week, 3/10).